Hit by a car yesterday, anything I may have missed ?

tonysp

Hello,
As the title says, whilst coming home from work last night 7:00pm a car came alongside and swerved into me to avoid another car beside it (two lane 30mph limit). Not too sure why the driver could not brake but....

Anyway it didn't seem too dramatic as I kept upright and managed to mount the kerb, whilst creating two dents on her front wing and scratching the side of my right leg.

The driver apologised right away, we swapped details and I check the bike, nothing out of the ordinary so gingerly ride home. At home I again check the bike properly and cannot see any scratch or marks anywhere so I assume my pedal caused the dents on her wing, ( gears all move perfectly so no damage there).

What I am concerned about is if the pedal took the force could it not have damaged the bottom bracket (BB30) as the movement must have gone somewhere, no play in the cranks so am I worrying about nothing ? Took the bike round the block last night, no creaks or groans except for mine.

Today the knee is stiff walking up and down stairs but I expected that, one thing that is strange is I feel really down in the dumps and the accident has been at the front of my mind all day (off work), is the slight depression normal ?

Sorry for the woeful tale but this is my first off which involved another vehicle. Thanks

chris_bass

you got hit with enough force to dent her car and didnt fall off?! good skills!

i'd say if there is no lateral movement in the cranks (hlod the pedal and try moving the crank horizontally) and you didnt notice anything on your way back you had a lucky escape.

Initialised

Yes it's normal to feel low after a crash, fall, injury. Part of it will be your body telling you to take it easy while any injuries repair, part of it will be reflection on the incident so you'll be better at avoiding it in future and part of it could simply be a (brain) chemical response to the shock.

slowbike

As above - it's natural to feel low after an incident - your body will have filled you with adrenaline at the time and now you've got a natural low ... plus a stiff knee!

If the bike looks ok and you've checked it all over - including a front-back-front check to make sure its not out of alignment - then it probably is fine - the fact that you didn't fall off will back that up - you've got to have some pretty large forces to damage the parts - by contrast - some car panels can dent by pressing in with your hand!

These things do happen and it sounds like the driver wasnt being arsey - just in the wrong place @ the wrong time - so with no bike damage and no lasting damage to you I'd just get on with getting your knee better and back on the bike ..

goonz

Sounds like you got away pretty well, great skills for not falling off!

As mentioned above it will knock your confidence slightly which will make you feel worse, it will pass! You will naturally be a little bit more aware now next time you are on the bike.

One thing you could do is stand side on to the bike facing the pedals on the chain side. Push hard on the pedal and keep the bike upright and check if it creaks at all. Or either get in a standing sprint and push hard and check if it creaks. If so it may have come loose slightly but not loads but worth getting sorted at the next service.

Have you checked the wheels for play at all? Was the road surface wet? If yes and you got a sidewards shunt you may have just slid across the tarmac hence not too much damage to the bike mechanically.

stevef67

Feeling somewhat depressed after an accident is quite normal. More often than not any anxiety, fears, etc. are short term though. There have been a handful of studies on the topic and a google search will turn up some interesting information. Just know you are not alone... it's common for a lot of people that have this type of thing happen.